Seeing Red

I rarely drink coffee. When I have coffee, it's almost always made at home. That's why the red cup controversy confused me. It started a few days ago. I started seeing things all over facebook about conservatives being against Starbucks for making their holiday cup generic instead of Christmas themed.

Personally, I think Starbucks is doing the right thing. As the entire country is cloaked in red and green at this time of year, we can't forget that there are people in this country that don't celebrate Christmas. What Starbucks is doing is offering a compromise.

Making cups red are making things special for the holiday season. People who like the special version of everyday things should be able to appreciate the nice touch. But those who don't celebrate Christmas shouldn't feel isolated either. They aren't forced to drink from something with a wreath, ornaments, Santa, or candy canes on it. Even snowflakes and snowmen become a Christmas thing with red as the background.

I found that out when decoration hunting. I had to buy my January and Winter decorations around this time of year. I searched for a lot of clear, silver, blue, and/or white. Generic things like a snowman without a red and green scarf should have been easy to find. It wasn't. I eventually found what I needed, but it was almost impossible to find something without even a little red and green in it.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who consider themselves conservative that aren't offended by these cups. I haven't actually read anything by anyone who WAS upset about these cups. I see a lot defending these cups. But, I haven't seen anyone AGAINST the cups being just red. However, it's not just on facebook. CBS did a news story on it. I didn't see it, but I saw the commercial for it. So there are some religious extremists against them. I have stopped listening to religious extremists. They are toxic. Maybe that's why I was confused about why a red cup without a Christmas symbol was a big deal.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-suggests-starbucks-boycott-over-holiday-cups/

At the heart of this is the retail battle of the season. Do you say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"! Religious extremists expect to hear "Merry Christmas". But someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas might be offended if they don't get a "Happy Hanukkah" instead. Some people only celebrate the new year. It's weird saying "Happy New Year" before Thanksgiving. I prefer "Happy Holidays" for two reasons.

1. Everyone in America celebrates  the New Year. Saying "Happy Holidays" applies to everyone. Even if they only celebrate the New Year, it's way less exclusionary then a specific holiday. No prejudice. No exclusions. If someone also celebrates another holiday, "Happy Holidays" covers that too.

2. We should be saying "Happy Thanksgiving" now anyway. "Happy Holidays" at least doesn't exclude Thanksgiving!

I understand that some people hate how commercial Christmas has become. I said it last year in my "Unforgettable Christmas" post. There are two Christmas'. A religious Christmas and a commercial Christmas. If you are very faithful, you want to keep Christmas as a religious holiday alone. It's one thing to not like it being called "Xmas". It's another to try to force the nativity, advent, and Angels on people who aren't that religious but enjoy the holiday.

It's a cup. In then end, it's the same thing inside it now that was in it in May when it was it's normal color. It's ironic to me that there are people that would rather pick a fight over a small thing like the lack of a Christmas symbol. Instead they should just enjoy all the good things this season has to offer. Instead of getting all heated up because there isn't a wreath on your coffee cup, look up and enjoy the wreaths hanging on doors. The real thing is better then a picture. A picture on something that is going to end up in the trash within a few hours anyway.